Stoked to present this interview with Corey Davenport from Suffer Ring, where we discuss the band's history, inspirations, past and future collaborations, live performances and upcoming plans. If you haven't checked out their 2024 album "Book of Miracles" yet, you can do so below (you can also read my review here). Make sure to buy their merch and follow them on socials - links are listed at the end of this interview. Enjoy the read!
Thank you for your time Corey! It seems like you've become the public face of Suffer Ring in recent years - playing gigs solo and even featuring alone on the cover of "Book Of Miracles". With Kyle not being part of this interview or live performances, would you say you've taken on more of a leadership role in the band?
Corey / Suffer Ring: Kyle is my music brother and his DNA is deeply embedded in everything Suffer Ring. Over the last few years he's had some tragic circumstances with laptops and software, not to mention he's just a very reserved guy that likes to protect his privacy and there's just so many big life events that I've stepped up and helmed the majority of creative responsibilities, but never misunderstand: Suffer Ring is our baby. I'm just in primary custody right now.Before Suffer Ring, you were recording as Cairn Elan, and Kyle was active under the alias Dead Fetus. Were there any other solo projects or bands you were involved in?
Cairn Elan was my first real solo project that was more electronic focused. I've got another solo project I started a couple years ago as an outlet for my more post-hardcore tendencies called corenothing that I occasionally write things for that haven't seen the light of day yet and I'm also working with some friends from college on a modern metal project called Symmetry and Order whenever I get a chance to record and I'm not preoccupied with SR. I'll definitely put out more solo material here in the future but it probably won't be under the Cairn Elan name. I have a concept project brewing that centers around the commedia dell'arte character Pierrot that I would probably assume a version of his name for. Kyle on the other hand is more of a hands on kind of guy outside of dead fetus and SR. He's got a very cool furniture business called Rust and Wraith, I recommend checking out if you're in the PNW.How did you guys get to know each other?
I honestly can't remember how we got to talking. Back in the early 2010's there was a very alive DIY musician/comedian/poetry community through Facebook that was sort of dubbed "weird Facebook" and you'd add all these artists as friends and have fun posting stupid statuses and memes and dropping music or poetry and we'd all support each other. That scene was definitely how I found Kyle's Dead Fetus project. Probably through Bunny or Joe Royster (of Aural Sects) or maybe Adriana Miow back in the day. His work was just so visceral and dark but energetic and ravey. I was an instant fan. I probably begged to sing on something, and he was so prolific that when we made something cool it just made sense to keep making stuff together.What's your creative process for writing Suffer Ring songs?
We typically divide effort up between production and vocals. The division of production differs from record to record and I think that gives them distinct character from one another. Interestingly we don't meddle with each other's production much. It makes each record feel like an era while they all live in the same sonic universe.Can you share more about where you're from? Did those places shape your sound? What were your influences growing up?
So I'm from Atlanta, GA and growing up in the southeast at the time I did there were really only two scenes that mattered. Trap and Metalcore. It wasn't crazy to walk down the hall at school hearing Three 6 Mafia, Waka Flocka Flame, or Gucci Mane and then round a corner and someone is blasting iwrestledabearonce, between the buried and me, or converge from their portable ipod speaker. What a fucking time to be alive.
Tell me more about your musical journey, what made you start producing music?
Like every little punk, I started learning guitar in middle school so I could play Coheed and Cambria songs with the album in the background with delusions that I'd be that kid holding up a sign "Let me play Welcome Home with you" at a show, you know? Over time it's just inevitable you and your friends start a band, and that's when I started writing some really awful music. Around 14 or so. Shortly after the friend group sort of drifted apart but I still wanted to make music, and this was right around when deadmau5, basshunter, and Benny benassi were getting some attention (at least that's how it felt in my little circle of freaks) and the idea that I could make full sounding productions without needing to organize 4 other guys' schedules sounded perfect. I'm a very solitary home-body kind of person and I'm a consummate auto-didact, so spending hours learning the hobbies I undertook came naturally. If you leave me alone for a few months I'll have learned a new instrument, a new software, started writing a book, and made an album just as a matter of course. I don't really have guided focused goals or drives. This body just spends time making stuff as a consequence of continuing to breathe.You spoke of learning to play the guitar - do you play any other instruments?
I love playing instruments. I play guitar (contemporary and classical) and cello mainly, though admittedly in SR you only hear guitar or cello in a few songs. I love finding places we can work in more traditional instrumentation but part of that SR energy can only be born through distortion and synths. Recently though I've contributed cello work to an acoustic cut of Bara Hari's song 'Tempest'.Is there a story behind your band's name?
After Epitaph came out and we decided to keep working together we were scrambling for names. I remember I had a note with seven or eight different concepts. No doubt Purity Ring and White Ring were subconsciously banging around in my brain when I pitched the idea. I still fantasize of a tour where Purity Ring headlines, White Ring supports, and we open and it would be called The Ring Cycle. Y'know like Wagner? A boy can dream.You mentioned Purity Ring and White Ring, I'd love to know more about your other inspirations that helped to mold the sound of Suffer Ring?
I think part of what makes our sound unique in the scene is that we have some common influences like Crystal Castles but also very disparate sources. It varies album to album. There's two albums that are mostly Kyle's production and there's two that are mostly my production…I wonder if people can discern which is which. Vocally what I try to bring is a sort of punk Bikini Kill, At the Drive-In, CRIM3S energy to the equation while Kyle takes Crystal Castles or Death Grips and drags it through distorted ghost infested dirt and grime.
What's the origin of your song "Incel", is there a certain event that inspired it?
I can count the number of personally emotionally salient songs I've written on one hand. Lyrically very little has any connection to my personal life. Nearly every song I've written is politically motivated or narratively conceptual, and "Incel" is no different. I try not to be too on the nose lyrically because when lyrics are ambiguous, that's where your heart gets to interpret and make the song mean something impactful to yourself. However, I'll be blunt and say that "Incel" is about our culture of school shootings here in America. I tried to juxtapose innocent childhood songs and phrases with the stark horror of these psychopaths and the corporatist stone-hearted politicians hiding behind bureaucracy, the slow nature of legislation, and semantic interpretation of the constitution. Lifting lyrical bits like "we all fall down" from ring around the rosey, invoking this perverse imagery of children being gunned down with the innocence of that folk song. Or "Carousel. spinning rounds" juxtaposing playgrounds and the spinning chamber of a revolver. Or the absurdity of guns being something masculine. Masculinity is fighting with your own bare hands. That's not a signifier of manhood on your hip, it's just an advertisement of your fear. And then they don't even have the balls to be honest about it. They want to pretend it's got something to do with freedoms or the second amendment. It's like, no…you're just terrified of other people and you're physically weak. Pussies.How did the collaboration with Ferngazer come about? This is easily one of my favourite tracks from the album!
First of all, Annie is an angel and a creative BEAST. Portland is SO lucky to have her part of the scene over there. I actually got to meet her while performing there this year and asking her to collab had to be the second thing out of my mouth. After I heard her feature on Thorns from Sidewalks and Skeletons I wanted to get her voice in a song and it all just fell into place so perfectly. And I don't just mean that metaphorically, like when I sent her the demo for "Jahil" with her parts empty, she literally nailed her feature in ONE TRY. She even did all the vocal processing and production for her parts to the point that I dragged and dropped her part in and that was it. I didn't have to do anything! And that is such a rare experience in collaboration. She really just GETS it. Her lyrical content was exactly what I was talking about in the song and her delivery and melody were just perfect. Can't wait to make something with her again and perform with her next time I'm out there.Any plans to work with other artists?
We've actually been collaborating with a good handful of artists in secret over the last few months. Sidewalks and Skeletons, Brothel, STRFLL, and Dead Cartel are all in the mix right now. On the next record we plan on working more with E_DEATH as well. Love love love her and everything she does.You actually collaborated with E_DEATH on your video single "Peasant" - how did you connect?
Speak of the devil, haha. I stumbled on her from her song "Gabapentin" on SoundCloud, and then while I was on the Dagger Forest bandcamp for Ritualz "Hypermotion X" record the cover of "Heaven's Night" caught my eye, and I listened without even looking at who the artist was. I loved it, and when I saw it was E_DEATH I went looking for her. I knew I wanted a dirty VHS aesthetic for anything we were going to do on BoM and her video work is unmatched in VHS so I reached out and asked if she'd help us make a video and surprisingly she had already known of us and liked our music. What she made was perfect and we just kept talking from that point on, sharing demos and backyard fight videos and whatever. I feel really lucky to call her a friend. She really is a true creative powerhouse. You'll feel her touch again on the next record for sure.Who are you listening to at the moment? Can you also recommend some lesser known artists?
Artists I recommend with my whole chest are Stay Healthy, E_DEATH, STRFLL, and Vanix. If you're listening to these artists you're getting the true 2020's strain of that underground filthy trap and rave inspired witch house sound that you don't get out of the viral wave of tiktok witch house. I said what I said.You've played quite a few shows this year, which one was your fav so far?
Oh man, this is so cliché but honestly I've had such a good time at every show. Earlier this year at CH1M3RA in the Netherlands was the very first Suffer Ring live show ever, and then at the Portland show I met Ferngazer who we would end up collaborating with on one of my favorite songs on "Book of Miracles". LA was an amazing warehouse experience, and then getting to open for White Ring was such a full circle opportunity. Building up the witch house scene here in Atlanta through these local shows in Underground Atlanta has been so rewarding and getting to perform with legends like TomKillsJerry, but man, I have to say Sidewalks and Skeletons and Brothel's audience was something else. I've never been in a room so packed with positive eager energy. It was really a peak experience for me, and we're about to do it again soon for another CH1M3RA with those guys (I'm including CASHFORGOLD in 'those guys' she's a legitimate star. Just an insane performer.)How far back into your back catalog of music do you go when playing live?
We go as far back as our very first song from before we made our collaboration an official project together. I honestly can't imagine not including some of our earliest songs in a set. 'Lecithin' gets the crowd going and I think I'll always want to do it. It's that classic dead fetus rave production that brings this chaotic punk energy to the night that just can't be outdone.
Do you have special visuals for your shows?
When it comes to visuals I have to admit I'm clueless. Any time you see clips of the show that look cool you can guarantee that's the talent of whoever is doing lights or Misha (the VJ Yovozol). I seriously feel so lucky to get to call these people friends. All I have the mind to ask for is strobes. Lots and lots of strobes.The album's out, you're playing live… What are your plans for the near and more distant future?
More shows next year. Potentially a tour or two? We'll see as things get ironed out, but I can tell you for sure there's going to be a new record next year. It's called STARVE. The concept driving it is a call to asceticism. And that's all I have to say about it right now.Any shout-outs?
I want to shout out my boy TomKillsJerry, Jake and Jackie (of Sidewalks and Skeletons, CASHFORGOLD, and Soft Siren), Brothel, Ravi who puts on CH1M3RA over in the Netherlands and everyone that follows and supports us. I really mean that too. We're still small enough to where we recognize yall in the comments, reacting to IG stories, and when you come out to the shows or order merch. I really love that our little crew of listeners is tight knit. It feels very real and personal and I love writing letters to you all when you order something from us or spending time getting to know you at the shows. For real, thank you so much for partying with us and making us a part of your lives.You can buy Suffer Ring merch here. Make sure to follow Suffer Ring on Instagram @_suffer_ring, Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/suffer_ring and Bandcamp: sufferring.bandcamp.com